Quadratic characters of finite fields #
Further facts relying on Gauss sums.
Basic properties of the quadratic character #
We prove some properties of the quadratic character.
We work with a finite field F here.
The interesting case is when the characteristic of F is odd.
The value of the quadratic character at 2
2 is a square in F iff #F is not congruent to 3 or 5 mod 8.
The value of the quadratic character at -2
-2 is a square in F iff #F is not congruent to 5 or 7 mod 8.
The relation between the values of the quadratic character of one field F at the
cardinality of another field F' and of the quadratic character of F' at the cardinality
of F.
The value of the quadratic character at an odd prime p different from ringChar F.
An odd prime p is a square in F iff the quadratic character of ZMod p does not
take the value -1 on χ₄#F * #F.